Tetra and her 3 friends, er, 4 plus Rich's drone, arrived at the beach where Cloud 9 residents used to relax and play with the sea creatures. The sand was left untouched, but it was tinted a light red and the ocean was black. The pier was missing entirely and the only remnants of any boat dock was a few small motorboats.

"How do we know that the ocean isn't crawling with demons?" Lo asked.

"We don't," Tetra replied. "But we have to cross it to get there." She motioned for the drone to follow her as she approached one of the boats. Everyone else trailed behind.

"Hmm," Rich said. "It looks like they should run okay. I'm not sure what the water's comprised of at this point so try not to fall in. Evyn should be fine though."

Tetra experimentally dipped her sword in the water. Nothing happened. 

Lo got in the boat and began checking the engine. "I used to drive boats y'know. When we were. . .alive."

Evyn and Ava boarded the boat as well. Once Lo started the motor, the boar began to pull them out to sea. The drone rested in Ava's hands as the boat sped along the water.

The black water wasn't pushed aside by the boat and stayed completely calm.

"I know what the water is now," Evyn said softly. She hadn't spoken since they'd massacred the monsters.

"What is it, babe?" Ava asked.

"It's that stuff that I threw up back a few months ago in the restaurant. When I became. . .this." She motioned to herself. "It's like blood. Demon blood. I guess when we get wounded, we usually just disintegrate like back on the shore. Something weird is going on here."

"Drink it," said the voice.

"Shut up," Tetra said aloud by mistake.

"Did she say something wrong?" said Rich through the drone.

Tetra slumped down in her seat. "Just ignore me."

Evyn looked at her worriedly, but decided to keep silent. Then the boat started rocking slightly. Ava, Evyn, and Tetra peered over the sides of the boat but couldn't find anything.

"Can you guys stop jumping around?" Lo said.

"It's not us," Ava explained. As soon as she said that, a large fish-demon jumped from the water and dove back into the deep.

"Lo, we hurry up the boating experience?" Tetra said frantically.

He tried pushing the motor as much as he could, but the boat wouldn't speed up. He looked at Tetra solemnly and the demon started to tear the hull of the boat apart. Before Tetra could gather herself and hit it with the demon blade, the boat snapped in half and she hit her head on the floor of the boat. 

*****

Tetra's eyes fluttered open when she felt Evyn's cold hands dragging her onto the shore. She looked around and recognized the beach as the one from the overflow district.

"What happened?" Tetra asked as she rubbed her head. A weird taste resonated in her mouth.

"You got knocked out by the boat and I had to save you," explained Evyn. "Ava was able to fly Lo away before he touched the water, but you weren't so lucky."

Tetra sat up and looked down at herself. "I'm totally fine. Just wet."

"Was something else supposed to happen? I just didn't want you to take a dip in some nasty demon blood." Evyn chuckled to herself.

Tetra laughed along with her and then realized something. "Where's my sword?" She looked around for it on the sand but couldn't find it.

"It must have been lost in the water. It's fine, I can just make another one."

"No, I need that one," Tetra said. Before Evyn had a chance to make another one, the original blade appeared in Tetra's hand with a flash of light. 

Evyn stepped back in surprise. "I didn't know mortals could do that."

"Me neither."

"I guess you won't be needing a new one," said Evyn. "Our significant others are just over the ridge, come on." She started climbing the short hill. Tetra followed after her, realizing that the weird taste was most likely the demon blood. The fear that she'd swallowed any of it perpetuated her thoughts.